The Supernatural Diaries
by TheSuperWhoLockianHobbit
Summary: Set before the end of Seasons 8 and 4, contains spoilers. Our beloved Winchester boys get sent to an alternate universe and meet a new kind of evil who will do anything to protect their own. They find themselves in a whole new adventure in the town of Mystic Falls. Rated T for violence.
1. The Phone Call

**A/N - Set before the end of Season 8 SPN and Season 4 TVD - Alternate Season Endings**

**Disclaimer - I don't own any of these gorgeous characters, if i did, Dean and Sam would have more shirtless scenes and Elena and Damon would be kissing in every episode :) **

The Impala doors slammed shut simultaneously with a resounding crunch and squeak. Two men had stepped out onto the gravel path, their boots scraping amongst the leaves and stones.  
"Why are we here, Dean?" The tallest man asked, his brown hair momentarily blown around by a gust of wind. His brother, much shorter, turned around, stuffing his keys in his jacket pocket.  
"Garth rang while you were asleep. Said that Kevin finally decoded the second task. I told him we'd be there as soon as we could. He then told me that we had been Garthed. So I hung up." Sam laughed and they made their way from where they'd parked the car to an out of the way house just up the road.

The place was a safe-house, it belonged to an enthusiastic hunter who was protecting a prophet from harm. Each door was made from the strongest iron and there were angel and demon mo-jo symbols coating the walls to stop any big bad anythings from entering. It was the safest place on earth besides the boys own nuclear bunker/library which was why Kevin was put in Garth's care. Sam and Dean were too much of a target to be able to keep the kid safe.

Dean raised a fist and knocked loudly on the door, the booms echoed back at the brothers and they waited, Sam watching Dean and Dean staring determinedly at the door. They'd got into a little bit of an argument during the journey because Sam had been coughing up blood again. Dean didn't have any choice but to come here and find out the second task; he was hoping that he'd be able to give Sam the slip and manage to get all the tasks done before Sam could. Despite everything though, it didn't seem like Sam was going to give up and Dean couldn't help but admire him for it. It didn't take long before the door in front of them was thrown open and Garth stood before them, his hair on end and a grin on his pinched face. Dean half smiled back.  
"Guys!" Garth said, before reaching over and hugging Dean tightly.  
"I keep forgetting you're a hugger. You're like cupid!" Dean sighed, choking a little because of the strength of the smaller man. He watched over Garth's shoulder because it was all he could do, and found himself engrossed in a beetle climbing up the wall next to the doorframe.  
"Hey Garth. Heard you guys have the new task for me?" Sam interjected, bringing Garth's attention off Dean and onto himself.  
"Yes! Kevin cracked it at about midnight last night. He's kind of been freaking out since." Dean and Sam exchanged a confused and worried glance.  
"What sort of freaking out?" They asked at the same time.  
"Well, muttering; screaming; spasming. At one point he started banging his head against the wall until he bled."  
"You didn't try to stop him?" Dean cried.  
"It meant he fell asleep! Something he hasn't done for about a week because of this tablet. So I let him rest while I called you."  
"Why don't we continue this inside?" Sam suggested, looking around. Out in the open, they weren't protected from angels and demons, anyone could be listening.

All three agreed and Garth led them into the sitting room, which was really just a sofa covered in pizza boxes and a black and white 1960s TV. The walls were an unfurnished gray and were plastered with drawings and translations, some labelled 'Leviathan' with huge mouths and scrawls. Another one was called 'Demon' it had less writing than the Leviathan one, but it wasn't fully decoded yet. They were all links to everything that could ever be know about any supernatural, evil, son of a bitch.

Dean shoved aside some cardboard and flopped on the sofa, careful not to get any stains on his jeansSam could smell something else foul from where he perched on a foldable camping stool next to the telly. It was wafting from the room off the left of the sitting room and the two brother's noses wrinkled at the same time as the smell surrounded them.  
"What the hell is that?!" Dean choked out, staring at Garth.  
"Kevin. You get used to it." Garth answered simply, grabbing himself and the boys a beer from the all in one kitchen fridge. At Dean's confused expression, he clarified "Showering is another thing he hasn't got around to doing."  
Dean and Sam exchanged a glance and took the beers they were offered. The place was like a bomb had gone off. You could barely see the floor and just walking through the piles of junk was like wading through a flood. There was one lonesome counter in the kitchen and even that was groaning under the weight of what looked like 2 weeks laundry.

"That's not very fair, you can't say I'm all disgusting when I'm living like this for you guys." A voice came from the doorway that they'd been gesturing to moments before. Dean spun around, hand on his gun. Instinct.  
A young-ish Asian boy stood there, leaning against the doorframe, arms folded. He looked tired and a yellow-purple bruise was forming on his temple. Kevin wore a plain grey t-shirt and jeans that were both drenched in crimson. Blood.  
"What are you guys doing here? I didn't call." Kevin looked at them with a mixture of anger and relief. Garth shuffled in his seat slightly and muttered something. Garth almost seemed scared of the teenage boy, how was that possible? He was a hunter, Kevin couldn't beat him in a fight? Then again, unlike Dean and Sam, Garth was thin and wiry. Probably not the combat kind of hunter.  
"I called them." Garth said.  
"Why?"  
"You said that you worked out the second task."  
"I won't tell them it." Kevin proclaimed, moving further into the room so that the light fell across his face more fully. Now Dean could see why Garth was afraid. It wasn't the boy that he was scared of, it was what all this was doing to Kevin. He wasn't just tired, he was exhausted to the point that he'd probably fall asleep in the middle of the apocalypse if he had the chance. There were circles around his eyes and the skin of his face looked sunken. The black tangle of his hair had grown to his shoulders because he hadn't bothered to cut it; it looked like the hood of a shtriga.  
"Why the hell not?" Dean blurted out. Sam gave him an exasperated look and turned to Kevin.  
"What is it Kevin? It can't be worst than killing a hell hound and bathing in its blood, can it?" He said in a soft voice.

Kevin didn't move for a second but pain and fear shone in his eyes. Finally he raised an arm and put his head in his hand.  
"I... Guys..." Kevin sighed. "It is SO much worse."


	2. The Devil's Work

"Kevin, it's okay, we can handle it." Sam tried to calm Kevin down but the boy was becoming agitated. Garth got up and went back to the fridge, he re-emerged a few seconds later with a disgusting green coloured drink and handed it silently to Kevin. The boy took a sip and visibly relaxed; his shoulders dropped and the wild panic was gone from his eyes.  
"I know... I know," Kevin sighed, "It's just... this is nasty Sam. Something no one would ever want to do in a million years. Not a human anyway."  
"We've done plenty of crap that humans wouldn't want to do. Believe me, we can take it." Dean was curious now, but he was also fearful. He had lost everyone, he couldn't lose Sammy too if this task went belly up.  
"Sam, the hell hound blood that you got on you in the last task. It's killing you." Sam avoided Dean's gaze when his brother looked at him, silently questioning what Kevin was saying. "Your body can no longer generate its own blood because of a toxin in the hell hound's. Under normal circumstances, the blood would instantly kill you, however, since the dog is dead and killed by you, it is taking it's time." Sam nodded.  
"How do I stop it?"  
"At the moment, the blood you're coughing up is your own, and it's all you have left. Which is why you've been feeling tired and nauseous. The more blood you cough up, the less you have in your body. When you've got rid of it all, you'll die."  
"So how does he stop it?!" Dean said forcefully. He didn't like the way Kevin was avoiding the question.  
"That's where the next task comes in. Complete this task and the toxins will cease to have effect, you'll be cured and the blood will begin to regenerate again." Kevin paused and took a deep breath. Sam and Dean looked at each other with pensive expressions while they waited for Kevin to let go of the breath, it took him a full 45 seconds. "To complete the second task you must take the life of an alpha the way they take their prey." Kevin recited from memory.  
"What does that mean?" Dean put his beer down and sat up properly.  
"Dean..." Sam said, his eyes wide.  
"Find an Alpha and kill it the way they kill their victims. For example, the alpha Vampire, which I believe is the last alpha left, he kills by drinking blood. Sam must drink the blood of the alpha and drain him dry." Kevin didn't look up from where he was tracing the edge of his cup of wheat juice.  
"Blood drinking huh?" Dean was angry, he didn't like this at all but he refrained from adding 'Nothing new there, is there Sammy?' to the end of his question. He was still a little bitter about the Ruby situation, despite it being years ago.

"Well isn't that interesting? I'll be sure to keep that in mind." A voice with an English accent spoke from the main entrance and all four boys spun around, Sam and Dean leaping to their feet.  
"CROWLEY?!" They both said at the same time and Dean reached for his flask of holy water, Sam reached for Ruby's knife.  
"How the hell did you get in here?" Garth asked, also jumping up to join the brothers. Crowley shrugged and grinned.  
"Door was open. You know you really should lock it."  
"It was locked... and covered in symbols and anti-you everything!" Dean was pushing Kevin behind him as he spoke, shoving him in the direction of the demon tablet. They had to get it before Crowley noticed it. Too late.  
Before anyone realised quite what was happening, Kevin was thrown against a wall and Crowley was advancing into the room followed by at least 12 other demons. Dean charged first, heading straight into combat with Crowley, the demon had no time to react so was forced to fight with his fists rather than mind.

Garth and Sam followed suit, launching themselves among the demons. Kevin, still pinned to the wall, could only watch as the goodies disappeared amongst the baddies, the swarm enveloping them in seconds.  
Crowley landed a punch on Dean's temple that sent him crashing to the floor.  
"All I want is the tablet and the boy, Dean. You and your little friends can walk away alive..." When Dean's only response was to roll over and get up, Crowley shrugged, "I agree, it's more fun this way." Dean punched him and the fight went on.  
Meanwhile, Sam plunged Ruby's knife into body after body, they all crumpled to the floor like ragdolls. He must have wasted about 10 demons when something touched him gently on the temple. He had the sensation of falling and everything went as black as a demon's eye.  
Garth had chased the remaining demons down the road and onto the street shouting the exorcism ritual at the top of his lungs. The writhing meat-suits of the demons fell to the ground and black smoke filled the air before plummeting into the undergrowth.  
Only Dean and Crowley remained locked in battle but Crowley was winning. He finally got a chance to use his powers and Dean was knocked to the floor with a crash.  
"Dean, Dean, you should protect your loved ones more efficiently. They are way too easy to pick off." With a decisive click of his fingers, Crowley disappeared.  
"Kevin?" Dean coughed, he was winded and he curled his arms protectively towards his chest, "Sam?" No answer. Gripping the sofa, Dean pulled himself to his feet, the bit of wall that Kevin had been pinned to was now just a blank expanse of concrete. The information about Demons and everything that Kevin had learnt was gone. So was the Demon tablet. Now was the time to panic.  
"Sam!? Garth!" Dean shouted around the empty house but the only reply he got was the echoes of his own voice. "Sammy!?" He was scared. He was alone, and the Demons had everything they needed to win this war. Where could Sam be? he wondered. Sam had been right there in the thick of the fight if the body count was anything to go by but he was gone now. Dean climbed over several people on his way to the bathroom, he needed to throw up, the fight had taken a lot out of him.  
In the bathroom, he wasn't sure what he was expecting there to be, but Dean felt very disappointed when he saw that the room was empty. "Sammy! Where are you!? Garth?" He tried again. Nobody was there. Had Crowley got Sam too?

Something made a noise back in the living room and Dean rushed in there shouting again for Sam. He reached the doorway in a matter of seconds and all emotions drained from his face when he saw who it was standing amongst the bodies in the room.

"Cas."

"Hello Dean."


	3. The Unexpected Visitor

**A/N - Sorry about any spelling mistakes! I always can't be bothered to proof read before I post :L :)**

"Cas."  
"Hello Dean."

Castiel stood in the centre of the room, bodies of ex-possessed, lifeless beings were littered on the dirty floor around him as if he was the last man standing in an epic battle, when in fact, that was Dean. Dean, however, couldn't think of anything to say. What he wanted, was an explanation, he wanted a reason for his friend - his family - abandoning him when he needed all the supernatural help he could get. Somehow though, the words just wouldn't roll off his tongue the way he wanted them to. Instead, Dean chose something to say that left no room for chick-flick moments between the two. "Where's Sam?"  
Cas visibly pondered this for a moment. His face staying impeccably blank but with so much emotion raging in the stormy blue eyes. He didn't speak for a while, simply avoiding looking everywhere but at Dean. His eyes found the desk and he began to admire the styles of writing from a pen that rested on the top of a pad of paper. It had been Kevin's note making pen, with which he had written down all he knew from the demon tablet; a tablet which the head demon had in his possession, as well as the only person that could read it.  
"Cas..." Dean said warningly but Castiel cut him off with the simple proclamation of:  
"Safe." he then continued after a hesitant pause with "I needed to talk to you..."  
The bottom of the trench-coat trail around Cas' legs was picked up lightly by a slight breeze from the still open door, Dean decided to focus on the floor and at the coat because whatever Cas had to say, it didn't sound good. Also, Dean had some questions of his own that needed answering, and he couldn't look as his cryptic friend if he was going to be able to ask them.  
"How did the demons get in Cas?" An instinct somewhere inside of Dean told him that if he was to be prepared to listen to what Cas wanted, then he would need to know this. From the guilty expression on the angel's face, however, Dean wasn't so sure that he wanted to know the answer as much as he thought.  
"I destroyed the demon sigils,"  
Dean took a deep breath. "Why?" He asked, betrayal ringing in the tones of his voice. He turned to face the desk and walked over to it in a dazed fashion that he was trying hard to hide. Picking up a knife from the cluttered surface, Dean rolled it in his fingers as if it were a gun that he was working out how to insert each piece together in the most effective way. The silver surface gleamed and winked at him, so he put it down; it was too pretty and bright for his current situation, Dean thought bitterly.  
"Something is happening, Dean. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it, and..." The angel raised an arm dejectedly, as though he was mimicking the human gesture of making a point, "And, there's someone in my head. Not in my head, she's in heaven but she can... get inside my mind. Everything is going wrong, Dean; she wants me to kill you. I can't do that, so you have to go." He was rambling now, falling over the bodies on the floor in his haste to reach Dean and make him understand. Inside he was desperately fighting off the urge to end the life-force of the being he called his friend, and leave him as broken as the carcasses around them. The urge was taking over.

"Kill him. What are you waiting for, Castiel?" He was back. Back in the stark white room that, if he had been human, would have reminded him of a hospital. Burning light from the walls followed his every move, leaving not even a slither of darkness for a shadow. Castiel didn't reply to Naomi, as she sat, watching him survey the room. He didn't want to forget this, he didn't want to feel the necessity to follow her orders believing that they were his own feelings. The only way to do that was to remember, to memorise every detail of the room, every detail of Naomi's tired face, to not LET himself forget. There was a plant pot in the corner by the door, it's white orchid drooping over the side of the ceramic grey tub as if it was trying to escape from the onslaught of angelic light. The grey tiles on the floor, to the untrained eye, were just tiles but if one looked close enough and knew what they were looking for, they would see the enochian word for "Order" written by the cement cracks between each slab. The plush white chairs facing the desk and Naomi were almost magnetised, because, no matter where you were in the room, you would always feel compelled to sit on one and look directly at the angel in her grey suit. Everything was grey, that was something odd that stood out for Castiel because, in heaven, everything is white or green or a bright colour. A room of white and grey was almost... tainted. Like there was evil in that room, just because it dared to go a shade darker than the general colour scheme. It was unsettling, to say the least. Naomi's desk was in the shape of a trapezium with a lot of space on top for items of sentiment or value; Naomi had nothing atop her desk. Angels were hardly beings of sentiment. The woman sat ram-rod straight in her seat and blinked at Castiel in a motherly fashion, as if willing him to accept his destiny and do as she asked. He must kill Dean Winchester, simple as that. He MUST.

"I won't." Castiel said aloud, fixing his feet in place so that he wouldn't gravitate towards the seats, for fear of what would happen when he got there.  
"He's not your friend, Castiel. He doesn't care about you! He LEFT you, back in purgatory, remember? You were all alone, fending off leviathans left right and centre, until I helped you. Until I got you out." Naomi's voice was sickly sweet and inviting. The images she was conjuring were almost tangible. Hanging in the air with poison dripping from each syllable and embedding themselves into the blue-eyed angel's mind. "Dean didn't come looking for you when you disappeared. Sam didn't call for you. Your so called 'family' doesn't care. But we do, Castiel, we always will. If you do this one thing for us." She smiled.  
Castiel nodded, his head moving backwards and forwards without the consent of the rest of his vessel and stretching his neck muscles with the urgency of the gesture.  
"Good. I knew I liked you, Castiel."

Without warning, Castiel found himself thrown back into the dark, blood smelling room, arms still outstretched. Dean hadn't moved but was eyeing him wary, distrustful optimism. The angel's fingers curled up instinctively until only two fingers were still reaching for Dean, then he ran. He ran forwards before disappearing into a whirl of feathers and reappearing behind Dean. This gave the taller man no time to escape and Cas wrapped his arm around Dean's throat.  
"I'm sorry, Dean." He whispered gently to his friend, pressing two fingers to the man's skull and twisting Dean's head with the other hand. There was a sickening crack after a small gasp and Dean's lifeless body joined the rest as it slid to the floor. Castiel let him drop and moved backwards to the position that Dean had occupied when he first walked into the room. "Are you happy now, Naomi?" Castiel asked the silent room.

She was, in fact, ecstatic. She sat smugly behind her desk of light and congratulated herself on another successfully reformed celestial being.


	4. The Abandoned Country Road

The first thought that ran through the over-active mind of, one, Dean Winchester was how soft and melodic the bird song around him was. Wait... Bird song? Dean's brain raced to catch up; all memories of the last time he was conscious rushing back to him, hitting his brain like the truck that drove into him, his dad and Sam before John Winchester had died. Did the bird song mean he was in Heaven? Surely not? This didn't feel like a memory that he remembered. Though maybe if he opened his eyes then he might find out... but not yet. Cas had betrayed him. Castiel had killed him. Dean's hand flew to the smooth curve of his neck at the memory; no breakage or even slight bump that would indicate an injury. Something didn't add up. Even if he was dead, why would he be in Heaven again? He didn't deserve to be there. Anyway, Dean had been to Heaven, Hell and freakin' Purgatory, but none of them had felt so... Real. Lights flickered in a kaleidoscope pattern on the other side of his tightly shut eye-lids. Dean made to open his eyes, but found that he really didn't want to, and that they wouldn't comply with his wishes, it was like they just refused. Tiredness washed like a tsunami over Dean and he sunk down further into the leather seat. He had died many times before, but nothing had felt quite so... final; the way a dead person should feel after they die for the final time.

The birds continued to twitter and Dean began to feel around him, curious as to what the leather beneath him was, but, for once, not feeling brave enough to look. If this was, indeed, the final time he died, he didn't feel like being a warrior. He didn't want to leave Earth, he didn't want to leave Sammy. He just didn't want to die yet. It was happening too fast, Cas had killed him, and Dean was beginning to feel scared. He'd never felt so terrified in his life; Dean welcomed the feeling. It flooded him and surrounded him like a blanket, all his emotions poured out. Single tears slipped from between the skin over his eyes and traced glittering path ways down Dean's face. On Earth, he was a tough fighter, here, wherever that 'here' was, Dean was alone and scared and he allowed himself the moment to break down. He didn't even know if Cas was telling the truth, was Sam really safe? Or had Castiel been lying, had he killed Sammy too?  
Dean reached a hand in front of himself to see whether he could tell his surroundings from the one sense he dared to use right now. There was something round directly forwards and Dean wrapped strong hands around it. A steering wheel? Solid... nothing like the things he had experienced in Heaven... Everything there had been as if seeing and feeling things through fabric; quite literally in some cases, for example, when Ash figured out how to move between people's Heaven's. The familiar gear stick was to his left and Dean sighed his relief. He was in Baby. At least she had followed him to Heaven like a good little Impala. Dean finally found the courage to open his eyes, wiping away the silent tears with his left hand. A movement caught his eye to the right and Dean's defenses shot back up, he whirled around as far as the seat belt would allow him.

Sammy stretched and rolled over in the passenger seat, rubbing his temple with one hand and feeling his neck with the other, much the same as Dean had done upon waking up. He blinked slowly and stupidly for a couple of heartbeats, then glanced sideways to focus his bleary eyes on his brother. It was a moment before either of them spoke, but when they did, it was in unison.  
"Dude, I just had the strangest dream." They eyed each other suspiciously, before both speaking again, replying to one another. "Clowns or midgets?"

Sam sat up fast in his seat, eyes wide. Yawning slightly, Dean did the same. "Sammy, are we stuck in another time loop? Did you know I was going to say that?" He asked, when he finally managed to get his mouth closed enough to form words.

"No," Replied Sam, "At least, not on my end; did you know I was going to say it?"

"No." Dean answered shortly. "So your strange dream? What happened?"

Sam launched into an explanation, "Garth called, Kevin had discovered the latest task."

"Let me guess, Crowley showed up, then you disappeared and Cas came?" Sam shuffled in his seat, watching out the windscreen, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable at Dean's ability to know what came next

"Well, yes, except I stopped dreaming half way through the fight, someone snapped my neck..."

"Right about when you disappeared in mine..." Dean finished for him, also getting nervous, not that he would show it now that he realised there was someone that could see him.  
"Not a dream?" Sam asked, sounding more tired and irritated than anything.  
"Not a dream." Dean confirmed.  
"Wait, so Cas came? What did he do to you, Dean?" The words wrenched the image to the forefront of Dean's mind and he felt his friends hands around his neck as one of the people he trusted most, destroyed his life in one fell swoop.  
"He killed me."  
"So we're dead then? Someone snapped my neck too, so if that was real..."  
"We've been everywhere, Sam. Hell, Heaven, Purgatory; you name it, we've been there. But can you tell me that any of them felt like this, Sammy? Felt so real, felt so safe? It's too bright for Purgatory, too pain free for Hell and I don't recall a memory like this, so surely it can't be Heaven?" Dean reasoned, he felt certain now that this was real, and not just some fantasy he was concocting because he was dead.  
"Dean, what other explanation do you have?" The man shrugged and stroked the steering wheel absentmindedly; he appeared to be thinking. Sam looked outside the window, where Dean had been looking a little while ago, he could see a sign in the distance, but could only make out a few letters of it, the rest were covered by shrubbery. It read "My c Fa s VA.". The letters that were visible were fairly destroyed, as if it had been remover regularly, or even fought over. It was made of a very nice white wood and next to it, was what looked like a broken and sad stone bridge over a river. The top part of the sign wasn't covered completely by bushes, and it read: "Wickery Bridge" in black letters that were presented in a semi-circular sort of shape.

All of a sudden, completely without warning, Dean began to yell. "Cas! Castiel, you son of a bitch. Get your ass down here!" Nothing was happening. Dean shouted over and over, finally stopping but curling in of himself slightly, palms pressed together, "I pray to the angel Castiel, we don't know where we are and this is all your fault, I haven't forgiven you for killing me, but I won't kill you if you show up and help us. Please Cas! Don't leave us here!" When nothing happened with this approach either, Dean yelled "You son of a bitch!" Into the car again, somehow thinking insulting the angel would get him to help. It didn't, the angel didn't show and the boys were still left sitting in the impala, down an unknown road in front of a bridge. Trees closed in on them from all sides and they sat in silence for at least 3 minutes before Dean tried to begin the engine. Just as if the day wasn't going perfectly enough as it was, the impala refused to start. She sat and grumbled when Dean turned the key, but just whined and stopped after awhile. Dean knew that she was just tired and he would be able to try her again in a few hours and get a result, but he was really not in the mood for being messed around. First Cas, now Baby, when would it end?

Sam watched Dean in his mini fit in enraptured silence, he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, it was as if his brother was having a meltdown or a panic attack, at least. Dean never had panic attacks.  
"Dean! She'll be okay! We just need to get to somewhere with a gas station!" Sam pointed to the bridge with his left hand, trying to calm his brother. Something wasn't right there and Dean having his first ever, non ghost-disease induced, panic attack, wasn't going to help them at all. "There's a town across the bridge, I'm guessing we're still in America though I'm not sure how we got here. Let's just get out, go across the bridge and see who we can find?"  
"Yeah, because that always works out so well." Dean grumbled to himself and began to reach for the door handle, but as his fingers curled around the metal, he turned back, his face puzzled, "You haven't coughed, you haven't chucked up blood once since we woke up. That must be the first time you've gone for longer than ten minutes without regurgitating vital bodily fluids, how're you feeling?"  
Sam was surprised, it came as a shock to him that he hadn't noticed the lack of stomach clenching and retching that he'd previously been doing. Was it something to do with this place? Maybe...

"I think I'm okay... I'm not feeling really uncomfortable. You're right though... I haven't coughed. I feel fine... Dean, I feel okay!" Sam truly felt like laughing. It was the first time in a while that he could properly laugh without it turning into a bitter snort. He let the laughter roll on, enjoying the deep rumble that started low in his throat, and running a hand through his long hair. Dean's face remained impassive and he watched his brother, finding himself unable to crack a smile. That was until Sam's hair fell over his eyes and he sent Dean a puppy dog grin that broke Dean's resolve. The two men chuckled jovially and freely for the first true time since they heard about Demon Tablets and met Kevin. It was a breath of fresh air.

The wind blew around the car in soft little flutters and a large bird fluttered gracefully to sit and watch the men through the car windshield from the hand rail of the bridge.

The bird had a huge hooked beak and dark beady eyes that saw everything, and missed nothing. It had wings as dark as night and flew as silently as any owl; it did not caw as it perched, it merely observed. This bird was a huge, black crow...


	5. The Familiar Girl

Damon Salvatore was a solitary man most of the time, these days. He sat at the bar of 'The Mystic Falls Grill' nursing a dark coloured bourbon and an equally dark scowl; the seat next to him was unoccupied. It always was, no one dared go near it even though there was also a glass of liquid in front of it, playing with the illusion that there was someone sitting there that had just gone to the toilet. No matter what time of the day you came though, there was never anyone there; there was never going to be a corporeal form sitting there when Damon was around. If anyone had the audacity to assume that the seat was free, they got a flash of purest white fangs and shimmering red irises that sent them running. Little did Damon know, that an invisible figure indeed sat with him, watching all of his antics and laughing at the people that ran screaming. He must watch over his best friend, he had made it his mission not to let Damon watch over the children alone. The black haired man took a sip of his drink and turned to the empty bar stool, "To another day of babysitting," He raised the drained glass, almost expecting it to reflect the friend that he'd lost. To him, though, the stool remained abandoned, "Cheers, Ric." Alaric Saltzman watched with growing dismay.  
"Cheers, buddy."

Dean and Sam got out of the car with unease, it had been decided that, yes, it was necessary for them to find out where they were. Unfortunately though, Dean was hell bent on murdering Castiel when he got his hands on him... More likely, if Castiel ever came to find them. The car doors made one single noise as they shut simultaneously. The noise, however, wasn't enough to scare off the crow still perched on the stone hand rail. The boys paid it no mind as they walked towards the bridge, not feeling any threat from the ominous creature, Sam walked slower as he approached the sign post. He tried to brush aside the plants but failed to notice the spikes that riddled the stems. "Ouch!" Sam hissed and pulled his hand away sharply, blood welled up from several small slices through the top layers of skin and he grumbled moodily to himself before wiping at the blood with his sleeve. Suddenly, however, Dean was at his side, holding onto his wrist and examining the blood as he forced it to come out of the wounds. "Dean... what the hell?" Sam eyed his brother as if he'd suddenly grown several more heads and had professed that he wished to become a Hydra. Dean gave him a 'shut-up' look and went back to watching the blood well and clot.

After about a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, Dean lifted his head and scratched the stubble that had grown overnight. "The blood is normal." He concluded. An incredulous look came over Sam's features.  
"Well what did you expect, Dean?" He shouted grumpily, "Did you expect me to bleed blue? Or green? I may be ill, but I'm not some sort of demon, Dean."  
"That's exactly it, Sammy!" Dean shouted back, giving as good as he got, "You're not ill! Look at you!" He gestured from top to bottom of Sam and the tall man glanced at himself, seeing absolutely nothing different. "The blood, it's thickened in consistency! You're not covered in sweat! The disease isn't taking effect here! Where are we?" They looked around them again. The grey of the pavement was the same slate grey that they'd seen in every other town that they'd seen in America. There was also nothing about the trees that suggested anything suspiciously magical. So what was making everything react the way it was? Why would Baby not start? Why was Sam okay? Not that Dean particularly felt that that one needed dwelling over, really, it was a blessing. Why had Cas killed them? And most of all, just what the hell was going on?

When they glanced around, Sam noticed once again, the sign that was hidden behind the bushes. Making sure that his shirt sleeve was wrapped firmly around his hand, he moved the bushes aside and took in the words from the wood. 'Wickery Bridge; Mystic Falls VA'. The brothers looked at one another, they'd never heard of a place so ominously named before. Sure there had been weirdly named towns that they'd visited, but nothing so obvious. Mystic... Mystic?! It seemed TOO obvious, but hey, they were here now, why not check it out?

Their only option was to walk across the bridge and leave Baby to sleep off her troubles. Sam's mind was churning, he had found out that, yes, he wasn't ill. A good thing, surely? He supposed, but did it mean that he had to start from scratch to close the gates of hell? That would suck. He didn't think that he'd want to wear glasses like that ever again; they weren't overly flattering, in his personal opinion, and they added fuel to Dean's argument that he was too studious. Then again, Dean did look hilarious in his own thick rimmed librarians glasses, so at least Sam wasn't the only one. The brothers fell into step alongside one another and watched the scenery go past. The trees were a gorgeous deep green, the colour that Dean would always boast was the colour of his eyes, then he'd claim that Sam's hair was the colour of the boring brown tree trunks. Not that Sam took offence by this, he felt that a tree trunk was better than a Moose; though Squirrel for Dean was funny, not that he'd let on, unless he wanted Dean to throttle him.

The walk was long and tiring, well, it would have been, if they hadn't been in such great shape and Sam had been ill, but coincidently, the environment was wonderful and distracted them from any possible fatigue they might have been feeling. It was quite a long way from the bridge to the town that they assumed must be on the other side, and the boys were getting bored of walking by the time the trees either side melted into buildings and streets. They had got to the centre of Mystic Falls.

"Is it me, or does this place remind you of when we went to Rivergrove, Oregon? Vaguely... creepy and Croatoaney...?" Dean's face distorted in confusion as spoke the last word, trying to work out whether that would truly be the plural of Croatoan. He nodded to himself before looking up to see Sam watching him with mild amusement. A crow flew softly overhead, heading in the direction of the Salvatore Boarding House but again, the boys didn't notice it's presence.  
"So, head for the centre of town?" Sam suggested, still smirking at Dean. Looking around them, however, Sam said, "Well that was fast." The road they were standing at the side of was lined with shops, diners and restaurants, with what appeared to be a high school at one end. It probably was the only real area of retail in the town, so it must also be the best place to find people. Surely, right? Wrong. The street was almost deserted, a few, large middle aged people walked past Sam and Dean, muttering about some hospital crisis and exploding light bulbs. The Winchesters couldn't comprehend much of it, and frankly, couldn't care less.

All of a sudden, Dean noticed something across the road and struck Sam violently in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. "Dude! Look who it is! What's she doing in a town like this? I'm gonna go say hi, you coming?" Before Sam could reply, Dean was jogging down to the edge of the pavement, preparing to cross the road. Sam followed, just in time to see the car that would have careered into his brother if Dean hadn't run across the road just ahead of it. The tall man took a deep breath, it was too like the Mystery Spot ordeal for his liking; though, this time, Gabriel was dead, and Dean wasn't.  
"Amanda?!" Dean called as he approached a woman striding confidently along the pavement. She didn't turn around so he tried again. "Amanda!... Hey, blondie!" The girl turned around, she was the spitting image of his high school girlfriend, but at the age she had been. This woman hadn't grown up at all, either that or she had a great cosmetic surgeon.  
"Excuse me?" She asked, cocking her head to one side, eyeing Dean with curiosity and wariness all hidden behind a bright smile, "Did you call me Amanda? I'm not Amanda." He could see that now, she was too young to be the girl he had known in high school.  
"Sorry! I thought you were someone I used to know. I'm Dean." He held out a hand for her to shake and she smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow and lifting her own hand, a blue ring reflecting the light.  
"Caroline, nice to meet you, Dean. Are you and your..." she glanced at Sam who had come up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dean.  
"Brother." Dean interjected, watching the other thought pass between Caroline's eyes, much the same as it did when people offered Sam and Dean rooms with double beds. Dean was NOT overcompensating because he was gay, for goodness sake! Caroline smiled widely, instantly bringing Dean from his thoughts.  
"Right, are you two new in town?"  
"That obvious?" Sam extended his own hand to her, "Sam, by the way."  
"Sam, hi. It's a small town, everyone knows everyone, you know how it is. Plus, you looked a little lost," Caroline grinned and shifted her bag up her shoulder where it slipped down a bit. "I'm headed to the local Grill, it's where everyone hangs out. Why don't you come with me That way, for however long you're here, you will at least know a few of the locals to save you if you get stuck anywhere."  
Dean and Sam exchanged a glance and a shrug before following Caroline down the road as she chatted merrily about her friends that she was going to meet; something dark passing over her face when she mentioned a girl called 'Elena' but Dean didn't comment.

It was only a short walk to where they wanted to go, as it was nestled in between the shops on the high street. Mystic Falls Grill was a welcoming looking place and had a steady stream of people going in and out, most of the booths visibly full through the window, so that's where everyone was. Also, Dean spotted a pool table, vowing to pull Sam over to play when they got the chance.

The three entered the Grill, the noise from the inside hitting them as if stumbling through a wall.

Outside, in the distance, a crow cawed three times. A warning call.


	6. The Locals

"Matt!" Caroline waved a hand gingerly in the air in the general direction and a blonde man looked up from his conversation with a dark haired girl and smiled, both of them waved back. Caroline was typical barbie in that she tottered over to them on heels, grinning from ear to ear, and gestured for Sam and Dean to follow, which they did. Dean took in the surroundings, trying to determine anything that might give him more of an idea of where they were; nothing jumped out at him. The tables and chairs were each identical to the last and were scattered in ordered rows around the place. It was when he glanced up at the bar that Dean gave an audible sigh, what was the likelihood of a nice greasy burger and fries here? Mystic Grill was more like somewhere that people liked to convince themselves that what they're eating is 'good organic, healthy food' but really they're just eating fancy McDonalds with thick cut fries. The man that they were heading over to was a jock type, probably on the football team, dated the prettiest girls in school, and works at this grill; typical no hoper. Dean's suspicions, or at least the last one, were confirmed as Matt got up to hug Caroline, and his waiters apron came into view around the back of his chair. The other girl, she was a mocha skinned girl with hair a similar colour and chocolate brown eyes, but Dean couldn't help but feel there was something off about her. Caroline hugged the girl next and turned to Sam and Dean. "Bonnie, Matt, this is Sam," She gestured to the tallest of her companions, and then at Dean with an appreciative smile, "And this is his brother, Dean." Matt reached forward with one hand for the boys to shake.  
"So, you guys are new around here? Do you think you'll be staying long?" He asked as Sam took the hand offered.  
"You sound like you want us out already," Dean answered, accepting the hand shake when Sam was done.  
"He doesn't," Smiled Bonnie, "There just isn't many places to stay around here, people don't come to visit very often, and even then they don't stay long." All three of the stranger's eyes flickered worriedly when she said that but recovered quickly.  
"Right, drinks are on me." Matt interjected, covering the moment with skills that lead Dean to believe he had done that on many an occasion, "What does everyone want?"

Dean and Sam both requested any form of whiskey, Bonnie, a coke and Caroline informed them that she had a favour to ask someone by the name of Klaus. She left soon after and Matt went to get drinks, he bought himself a beer.  
"So, where are you two from?" They made polite conversation when the drinks came back, and Dean began to realise that Matt wasn't completely the rude arrogant footballer that he'd taken him for.  
"Lawrence, Kansas." Sam filled in, he and Dean were sitting opposite Matt and Bonnie .  
"I've heard that's nice, what was it like there? I haven't really travelled, except for around the nearby towns and down to where my mother lives,"  
"It was nice," This time, Dean answered Bonnie's question, Sam couldn't really, because he hadn't known, "We left when I was five and Sammy was 6 months old because there was a fire,"  
"I'm sorry, did you all make it out?" Matt asked, somewhat insensitive.  
"Uh, no... Our mother died." Sam muttered. The two Mystic Falls residents looked at them with sympathy though Matt more than Bonnie.  
"I lost my sister a couple of years ago, that was hard." Matt sighed, there was a lost look in his eyes, he must really miss his sister, Dean concluded.  
"Matt, Bonnie, hi," A voice spoke from behind the two brothers and Matt immediately abandoned his sentence and his loss to smile slightly at the person that the voice belonged to.  
"Stefan," Bonnie's look of friendliness was as fake as it was possible to be. The smile didn't reach her eyes, it was obvious that she blamed him for something. "What brings you here?"  
"I was looking for Caroline, I need her help with something, she told me earlier that she was meeting you two at the Grill around about now," Sam and Dean exchanged a glance and turned around to see who was speaking. A young man of about 17-18 ish had a kind smile plastered on his face, but there was warning in his eyes. Stefan seemed to notice them for the first time and cocked his head to one side, the smile still in place; it was a silent question of who they were. Dean recognised it and held out a hand over the back of his chair.  
"Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sammy, we're new in town. We came to see the sights."  
"Stefan Salvatore, I live over in the Salvatore Boarding House, one of the oldest buildings in town. If you're going on your trips and want to come and see it, let me know," Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes when Sam's eyes lit up on the word 'old'. He said it before and he'd say it again, Sam was weird. Stefan turned his eyes to Bonnie. "Did Caroline say where she was going?"  
"She went to talk to Klaus,"  
"Klaus? Why?" Stefan was obviously confused and he tilted his head to one side. He contemplated something for a second, then nodded to himself, "Right, I'll find her later. It was nice to meet you two,"  
"And you," Sam replied with an easy smile, running a hand through his hair. Dean just tipped his head forwards in acknowledgment. Stefan smiled and began to leave but Bonnie called after him, making him pause and turn around.  
"I need to talk to you, Stefan. It's about Elena." Stefan's eyes flashed darkly, but Dean could tell that this was only fear, not the anger that Caroline had displayed when she'd mentioned the same name.  
"Alright, I'm heading to find Caroline, I'll walk you back home," Bonnie got up from her seat and grabbed her bag, slinging it onto her shoulder and squeezing Matt in a quick goodbye hug.  
"Actually, I think I'm going to go visit Jeremy," She smiled at Sam and Dean and lay a hand on each of their shoulders in turn, "It was nice to meet you two, I hope you enjoy your stay in Mystic Falls," The boys just smiled back. "See you later, Matt."

The two friends left, Dean tried to make out what they were saying but it was hard, they spoke and walked very fast. Dean was severely rattled, when Bonnie had touched his shoulder, there was something off about it. He had felt a very slight tingle in the place that she had touched; it wasn't the sort of romantic feeling that he'd only ever felt three times in his life, with Jo, Lisa and Cassie Robinson. It was... unnatural? Matt got up, startling Dean out of his thoughts.  
"Right, well, I better be getting back to work. As everyone has already said, it was nice to meet you, hope you like our little town." They all said their goodbyes and shook hands again, and Matt left to join the other baristas at the bar.

Sam and Dean drained their glasses quickly and got up to leave, waving a thanks to Matt before they walked back onto the street. It was now about midday in Mystic Falls and the heat was almost overwhelming, such that the boys decided they ought to find a motel just so that they were out of the heat for a while.

Stefan and Bonnie walked together slowly, they had left the Grill and took a roundabout route to the cemetery, only stopping once for Bonnie to pick up some flowers, three roses, one white, one red and the last, a deep magenta. "So, new people in town..." Bonnie was saying, "What do you think of them? They seem nice,"  
"Well, I didn't speak to them for long, but I think Matt was spilling stories a little too quickly, I don't trust them." Stefan stared straight ahead, leading Bonnie along, his mind was mostly focused on keeping Bonnie away from anywhere that Elena could be lurking. It hadn't worked out so well the last time that the two girls had crossed paths; Bonnie had nearly killed Elena, and as much as she was being annoying at the moment, Stefan knew he was too in love with her to let her die, also, Damon would have cut off every part of Bonnie he could find when she was asleep if any harm had come to Elena. Damon would have been a little out of line doing that, but Stefan had to say that he would have done the same had he the guts to do it without going 'Rippah Stefan' which wouldn't have been progress for anyone. From one psychopathic, emotionless monster to another. The good thing about where Bonnie was going, was emotionless Elena would probably not try to go there, she couldn't care less that her brother was in the ground.  
"What was it that you wanted to speak to Caroline about?" Bonnie asked, "Maybe I could help? I know I have been a little bit excessive on the magic front recently, but I want to help. I didn't mean to hurt Elena before, but she did try to kill me first," The witch ran her fingers across the petals of the flowers, feeling their silkiness, they were a somewhat apology to Jeremy for trying to kill Elena, but they were also because she missed him a lot. As hard as it had been when Jeremy had still been in love with Anna when they last dated, Bonnie had never truly got over him. She hadn't even known that he had died, but now... She had to see him, well, his grave.  
"Oh, Elena. Damon and I were thinking of trying something drastic this time. Like torture, maybe? What do you think, I could do with all the opinions on this that I can muster, I fear that I'll chicken out otherwise. Though Damon could probably still do it, I just don't know if I'm strong enough; I still don't want to hurt her. If only Lexi was here,"  
Bonnie didn't hesitate with her reply, she knew what she wanted to be done, "Do it." She said, not looking at Stefan, this time staring at her hands, she'd felt them heat up previously and was trying to will away the power before it burst out. It was getting harder and harder to control since the final sacrifice had been completed, since she'd regained her consciousness. "Damn it!" She hissed as a flicker of magic sprung from her finger tips and singed several petals on the red rose, also raising about 150 leaves from the floor in a whirlwind around them. Stefan raised an eyebrow at her, smiling slightly, and they paused to wait for the leaf storm to die down. Bonnie sighed in frustration and shook her hand to try and get the magic to stop building up, it was like trying to get blood flowing again when your hand goes numb. "It's not funny, Stefan, it's getting worse. I think it needs an outlet... it wants me to drop the veil, I think that's the only way to expel all the restless magic!" The cemetery loomed up ahead of them through the trees, and Stefan turned to her, placing both hands on her shoulders forcing her to look at him.  
"We won't let anything bad happen in this town, we've all lost enough, don't you think? I say that we focus on Elena, on these two newbies... Sam and... Whatever the other one's name was, and we keep the town safe against or for them, okay?" Bonnie nodded, "Silas can wait for the moment, but obviously he's too impatient to wait for too long, we'll manage it all somehow, Bonnie, we'll do what we have to,"

Stefan smiled and let go of Bonnie but not before he had turned her to look into the cemetery; she turned to say goodbye to him, but as she twisted her waist so that she was facing him again, she was met by a gust of wind. The spot that Stefan had been standing in was now empty; stupid vampire speed, Bonnie thought, and entered the cemetery.


	7. The Cold Stone Slab

"What do you mean there is no Motel's around here, Sam?" Dean paced the street nervously. He was annoyed. According to Sam's GPS, there was not even one single place to rest their heads that night. The brothers had walked the length of the street and back again trying to find signal for Sam's phone and finally found it very close to the entrance to the forest, only to discover that there was nowhere to stay.

"Castiel, when I get my hands on you! You're going to wish you were never..." Dean hesitated, "created!" Was the only word the worked in the sentence, so that was how he finished it.

There was nothing else for the boys to do except make their way back into the town and maybe ask Matt if he knew of anywhere that'd be willing to accept lodgers or something.

Bonnie walked slowly up to the Gilbert patch of graves; she tried to prolong her journey as much as possible, fearful as to what she might do when she finally glimpsed the slab of grey stone that marked the place where his body lay resting. To the witch, resting seemed an odd word for what the dead did. She'd come into contact with dead witches, they were grumpy, dead vampires were vengeful and dead humans just stay dead. Most of the time. Jeremy was a dead 'one of the five' what kind of spirit did that make him? A calm one? Bonnie already knew that if she dropped the veil she would see him again, but could she risk the lives of those still living, just for the chance to see him again? For once, Bonnie longed to be selfish, longed for the opportunity to get something she wanted so badly, consequences be damned. But it wasn't to be; Jeremy was dead, and if they were to defeat Silas, that was the way it had to stay. She'd had the chance to see him though, at the prom, Silas had been there, looking like the love she had lost. It had nearly broken her, fortunately she hadn't fallen for the ruse and the veil was still holding strong. Only just.

"Hey Jeremy," her voice shook and the smile present on her face was a broken and pained one, tears threatening to spill over the edge. "I brought flowers, that's what you do isn't it? When you visit... When you... When someone..." She came up in front of the grave and fell desperately to her knees, unable to finish the sentence.

"They're roses. I didn't know which colour you'd prefer so I got three different ones, I could have tried to ask; would you answer a Ouija board?... I'm scared to use magic at the moment. Not after... Please forgive me for what I did to Elena. I lost control, I shouldn't have, I just got so angry... How can she not be sad that you're...? I know she's not okay at the moment, I wish she had her emotions, then I could try to help her..." Tears were falling freely and silently down Bonnie's face, the only way a passer by would be able to tell was by the soft little hiccups every word or so. She had her head bowed and for a few minutes, just simply stared at the flowers watching as they caught on fire, burning slowly and seductively, as if calling Bonnie to just give in. "I'm going to get you back. You hear me Jeremy? I will bring you back, no matter what it takes." The flower fire went out with a curl of acrid smoke and Bonnie lay them down, tears still stinging her eyes and making her nose tingle heatedly. She got to her feet and walked away, trying hard not to look back. If she had, she would have seen a girl with hair as dark as cocoa, except for a light pink streak, watching her with arms folded and an eyebrow raised, a smirk plastered on her face. It was clear that she thought the scene was pathetic.

Dean and Sam entered the Mystic Grill for the second time that day, welcoming the more familiar sight. It wasn't as comfortably familiar as seeing Bobby's house again would be, but it was as close to familiar as this town was going to get after only one day of snooping. They easily spotted Matt wandering between tables with a tray full of dishes and unfinished food. The sight of a few remaining fries made Dean's stomach growl. It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon and the boys hadn't eaten all day. It was probably a good idea to stay and eat something. Dean looked at Sam, about to ask if he was hungry, but the lust-filled look in Sam's eyes bought him up short. He turned to see what Sam was looking at; directly in front of them was a mediocre woman with red hair. Dean wasn't sure what was so special about her. It took him less than two minutes to spot the real attraction. Sitting in front of the woman, was a desert of monstrous proportions. The base was made of crushed cookies and strawberries with a layer of thick cream above it. The main pudding consisted of several layers of chocolate in as many different variations as you could think of. Dean thought it ironic that the man sitting opposite the lady, was dining on a salad with a glass of iced water, Dean couldn't help but think it was somehow backwards.

There were less people in the Grill this afternoon, no doubt off enjoying themselves in the sluggish heat of the day, or cooped up inside somewhere else. Dean was happy to notice that the pool table was abandoned and clapped a hand on Sam's back to pull him from his dazed state. He would have said something amusing about the lust Sam was feeling over a desert, but couldn't bring himself to use the word "Pudding" again so soon. It would just bring back horrible memories that he was desperate to forget.

Matt saw the two boys as they made their way towards the pool table and stopped for a second to chat.  
"If you're going to use that, you have to at least buy a drink," He smiled good naturedly and Dean felt less on edge than he had when Bonnie had been there too.  
"Oh if we must," Dean grinned back, glancing at Sam, silently asking if he would like a beer. Sam half nodded, "Yeah, we'll have two of the best beers that you've got, and two burgers and fries, please." then, when Matt opened his mouth to ask what type of meat for the burger, Dean cut him off, "Any. We're not fussy." Matt nodded and walked away to get the food.

Sam set up the pool table, and the brothers began a heated battle.

As Matt set about pouring the drinks after putting in the order with the kitchen staff, he glanced up at the boys to see who was winning, only to have his view blocked by a face he recognised.  
"Elena!" He jumped away from the edge of the bar and backed up against the drinks rack. The girl sighed melodramatically, her brown curls bouncing cheekily against her black leather jacket.  
"Right reaction, wrong person." She sighed again, "I miss the days when everyone mistook her for me, not me for her."  
"Katherine," Matt growled. He hadn't seen the vampire since before she had killed Jeremy and he wasn't please to see her now.  
"Relax, blue eyes. I'm only stopping for a quick chat. No one else seems to be talking to me,"  
"What do you want, Katherine?" Matt asked, glaring at her.  
"Well, my first question, who're the newbies?" She gave them an appreciative glance, "and have you seen Elijah?" Her gaze when she looked back at him, was expectant, as if she thought he would actually be courteous enough to want to tell her anything. She rested her elbows on the bar and her head on the back of her hands; the picture of innocence.  
"Leave, now, Katherine." Matt growled, he hoped she wouldn't try anything in a place so crowded, so he dared to come out from behind the bar with the food that he'd collected for the brothers. Katherine stalked towards him when he came around, her eyes glinting maliciously.

"You heard him, Katherine. He asked you to leave." An English voice spoke sweetly but dangerously from behind Katherine and she stopped prowling to turn and sneer at the voice. Rebekah Mikaelson looked at her with cold fury concealed behind a dark smile.  
"Until next time, Matt," Katherine shot over her shoulder, deciding the fight wasn't worth it, and leaving the Grill. Rebekah lost her bitterness as she turned back to look at Matt, walking towards him slowly.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern lining her voice.  
"I'm fine, Rebekah." Matt brushed her off to deliver the food. She knew better than to follow him.  
"Popular with the ladies, aren't you?" Dean said as Matt approached, he had watched the entire exchange after beating Sam at pool, unable to hear a word of their conversation. "Let me guess... Stalker Ex and Jealous Current girl?" he asked with a grin. Matt laughed back.  
"Yeah, something like that. You lot found somewhere to stay yet?"  
"No," Sam replied, "This doesn't seem to have a motel!"  
"Hmm, the only people that ever come to visit tend to be family. And family stays with family." Matt informed them. "Hey, I pretty much live on my own at home since my sister died; you could stay with me. I have spare rooms," Dean and Sam smiled widely, grateful for the generosity of strangers. Dean was pleased to be around someone so close to Bonnie, it was a good place to start when trying to figure out what she was.  
"That would be awesome!" Sam said, shaking Matt's hand as if closing a deal. Well, a business deal, demons deals were settled... another way.

Matt told them that he would take them to the house once they'd finished eating and went back to work cleaning tables with his grey tray. The brothers made idle chit-chat whilst they ate and Dean tried several times more to discreetly call Castiel, this time making an attempt to bribe him with burgers. No angel in a trench coat showed up to eat the food offered, however.

Later that night, Matt drove them over to his house, and let them in through the front door. He gave them a warning speech and a lady with an English accent gave them each a very hard stare and told them clearly not to steal anything from the house. Not that they remembered her at all. Soon after they'd been shown their rooms, Dean and Sam sat on the couch and Matt left to get back to work.  
"I don't trust that Bonnie girl," Dean said as soon as Matt's car left the drive way.  
"Did you feel that energy when she touched you too?" Dean nodded.  
"What're we thinking then? Witch? Shape-changer? Skin walker?" Dean mused.  
"I think we need more evidence, then we can decide what the best way to deal with her is."

"Plotting to murder someone already? Well that is the Winchester way, I suppose." A voice came from the doorway to the kitchen and both boys spring to their feet ready to fight.  
"Who are you? What makes you think you know us? We've only just got here!"  
"Oh relax, Squirrel. I'm here on behalf of a friend, Castiel. I'm your temporary guardian angel." A girl stood with her arms folded, leaning against the door frame.


	8. The Guardian

**A/N - Thank you to everyone that has favourited and followed this story! I love you guys! Let me know what you think of my OC by reviewing! :) **

Matt's house was dim in the fading evening light that streamed from three windows, two in the living room and one in the kitchen. The white walls of the lounge were covered in photos of Matt and what Dean suspected must be his family. There was a girl with long mousy brown hair down to her waist and curly. She was in three of the seven photos; draped around Matt in one, sitting with him and another woman in a different one with a marble coloured background, and in the last one she had her arm around a young looking dark haired boy in a black hoodie. Boyfriend? This must have been the sister that Matt had mentioned in the Grill. The other four photos were of Matt and his friends; the brown haired girl from the bar, Matt with Caroline and a guy with black hair and large biceps, and Matt with an older, more bulky version of the sisters boyfriend, it was obvious that quite a few years had passed. The last of the four photos was placed on the coffee table in a silver frame with an engraving, the picture was cut off, it was a woman with dark auburn hair and black eyeliner, it was only possible to see a 10th of the bald man next to her. The frame read: mom.

Scanning the pictures, however, Dean didn't see a single person that looked even remotely like the woman standing in the doorway. This girl had ash-blonde hair that turned gold when the sunset lighting scheme touched it and cascaded just past her shoulders. The black dress that she wore contrasted intensely with her pale skin, and her piercing emerald gaze was fixed directly on the brothers, waiting for a witty comment. Dean noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes and looked down to see that she wore no shoes and flexed her toes every so often, showing off the bright purple nail polish.  
"Who are you?" Dean repeated, glaring sceptically back at her.  
"A friend."  
"Of whose?" Sam cut in and her eyes flicked to him, it was a quick enough movement to make Sam flinch away.  
"Castiel's." She stepped further into the room, unfolding her arms and allowing them to stretch out by her side whilst sinking her toes into the soft carpet.  
"You're an angel?"  
"Clever." There was a flurry of sound; the girl sucked in a breath, feathers battered one another and the Winchesters gave a collective gasp. Protruding from the centre of the girls shoulder blades were a pair of huge, black, feathery wings. Corporeal wings, Dean noted, Cas had never had those. Each feather glittered individually, reflecting light along the shaft of the feather and stretching across each barb in the vane. The wings had the look of an oil slick on a road, with colours marbled and dancing on the surface, but ultimately they were dark and ominous black. The brothers both thought that the wings were magnificent, they spread out over almost all 5ft 6 of the girl, only stopping when they reached her knees; they were about half of that wide. "Cas' wings weren't like that," Dean said, silently asking the question of Why are yours?  
"Different Universe, different physical plain rules?" The girl shrugged, the huge structures moving with her shoulders.  
"Different Universe?" Sam groaned, he was beginning to hate his job, all the universe jumping was giving him a headache.  
"Yes, there is a lot different about this world compared to our own, for one thing, there's no Hell and no Heaven here. Also, there is no such thing as a vessel, this is a human version of what I actually look like. The thing with having no vessels and having my own body, is physical, retractable," She proved the point by folding the plumage expertly back into her flesh, her dress unblemished, "corporeal wings," The girl finished.

Dean paced the room a little, he glanced up at Sam, realising something for the first time, "No Hell and no Heaven? That means no tablets, no trials, right?" When the girl made no sound he continued, "That's why Sammy's trial disease isn't acting up!" Sam's eyes became bright with the realisation.  
"Clever, I honestly didn't think that it'd be you that figured that one out. I was told that you weren't the brains of the operation." Her blonde hair shivered in the breeze from the kitchen and the girl glanced at a light bulb, it flared sharply into life, counteracting the shadows and forcing the back where they had slunk forward as the light left. "Maybe I was wrong, thinking you were all talk. Then again, I'm never wrong, you two are pointless human beings and the world would be better off without you." Both boys looked affronted and she shot them a vicious smile that was more like when a wolf bared it's teeth in a warning. "Either way boys," Her tone was patronising, "I'm here to help you, you're going to have to trust me,"  
"Trust you? You seem to hate us and we don't even know your name!" The girl watched the brothers with mild amusement and contempt sparkling behind her eyes. She considered what Dean had said, but only for a moment.  
"You want to know my name?" A smirk.  
"It's fair since you seem to know ours." Dean raised an eyebrow. The blonde mulled over her answer.  
"You can call me..." She raised her eyes to the ceiling in thought, "Zoe."  
"That's not your real name, is it?" Sam arched one eyebrow. Zoe smiled mysteriously.  
"Take it or leave it."

Zoe sauntered further into the room, her emerald eyes never leaving the boys faces, watching cautiously. She bypassed the brothers where they stood and sat down lightly on the sofa, her ankles crossed. The boys remained standing, unsure of how to proceed. They had more questions but this angel seemed to know a lot more about the way the human world worked than Cas did. Zoe held herself like a business woman but dislike and bitchiness rolled from her, it was clear that the Winchesters were far from her favourite people.  
"What did we do to offend you? You obviously dislike us personally. What reason do you have to be angry with us? What did we do?" Sam asked, looking down at her, intimidating, where she sat on the sofa. He was startled when she began to laugh. Uncontrollable fits were racking her small frame, shaking in her efforts to stop and calm down but it had reached the point where every breathe in caused feathers to poke through her skin as the wings fought to break free. Finally, she calmed down enough to say, " No reason?" Zoe sobered up almost immediately after she said those words and cast a violent glare in their direction, springing to her feet. "NO REASON? You are the reason that my home is in uproar! Naomi is brainwashing my brothers; my best and closest friend in the garrison is DEAD because the other member of our little trio whom we trusted, killed him, YOU MADE HIM DO IT! Inadvertently, of course, but if he hadn't met YOU, he wouldn't have done it and Balthazar wouldn't be dead. Castiel wouldn't have rebelled if it wasn't for you," She jabbed Dean in the chest with a finger, only anger shone in her eyes, there was no sign of tears, Angels didn't cry. "If you hadn't put ideas in his head. Samandriel, Gabriel, Uriel, they ALL wouldn't be dead right now if it wasn't for you two! Neither would your little brother." Zoe was ranting, making extreme hand gestures and throwing glares like daggers, pacing in front of the sofa, her toes curling, showing the extent of her disgust.  
"We're sorry?" Sam offered. Zoe tossed another razor sharp blade.  
"Here I am, having to protect the men that I despise because my dear brother is too busy to pick up his pets! The last thing that I want to be doing is keeping you two alive." If it wasn't unbecoming of an angel, Dean was sure that Zoe would have spat on the last word.

"If you're here to help us," Dean started, understanding that she wasn't allowed to hurt them, so deciding to be a little bit cheeky, just because she couldn't do anything, Angels were good like that. He took a seat in the blue arm chair in the corner of the room, "Why don't you start with explaining why we're here? And who's Naomi?" Zoe was over in front of him in seconds, leaning on the arms of the chair over him and snarling.  
"Do not presume to speak to me in that smug tone, Dean Winchester. I am NOT Castiel, I will NOT take that crap from you." She pushed herself back up off the chair and sighed, returning to her seat on the couch. "Naomi... She's a tricky one. The only thing that her and I have in common is a mutual hatred of all things you two. She's manipulative and can tamper with an angel's mind. Hence Castiel's whacko attitude of late. He sent you here to keep you safe from both Naomi and himself. She's got in his mind and is hell bent on having him kill Dean. We're still in the process of working out exactly where 'here' is, but so far we understand that this is a perpendicular universe.

"You've heard of a parallel universe I assume? Yes? Well a perpendicular universe is basically the exact same as our own in almost every aspect, except something to do with religion changes the fundamentals, for example the no Heaven and no Hell thing-"  
"-Purgatory?" Dean interrupted.  
"As far as I can tell, yes, there is a form of Purgatory. What we're not sure on is the supernatural situation, there are some universes that have none, and others, like ours, that have most if not all types,"  
"We think that we've already found something. We're not entirely sure what, yet, but the girl, Bonnie. She can't be human." Zoe turned her head slightly to face Sam completely as he spoke, he was still standing and it made him look much taller than he was. She arched an eyebrow and sighed.  
"Right, well don't make enemies, I have a feeling that you'll be here too long to do that. If you get into trouble, then I'll have to save your asses and to be honest, I don't think I'd be able to resist the temptation to watch you burn." She stood up and smiled brightly but menacingly, "Unfortunately for me, I'll see you around boys. If you need anything, just pray and I'll come to you speaking words of wisdom, sarcasm and spite, and you will listen or I will abandon you here. God knows that I want to." The sound of a thousand tiny feathers beating together filled the room once more and Sam blinked, only to find that in that fraction of a second, Zoe had vanished. He and Dean were alone in the room once again.  
"Well..." Sam began, turning to his brother where he sat drumming his fingers on the arms of his chair. It was then that Sam noticed that there were finger indentations in the chair from when Zoe had threatened Dean.

"What a bitch!" Dean burst out, adding as an afterthought, "She was kind of hot though," Sam rolled his eyes, this new universe was turning out to be a little bit more confusing than the last, if that was possible. They sure had their work cut out for them.


	9. The Planning

**A/N - Thank you for the reviews so far! Please keep reviewing, it helps to know what people think of the story. Also, a huge thanks to everyone that Favourited and Followed!**

* * *

Morning light filtered gently through the old lace curtains and into the room where two men lay sleeping. The two twin beds covers were rumpled where they had been thrown around in restless fits of dreams as the night had progressed.

Having been used to a memory foam mattress from his bed back in the Bunker, Dean tossed and turned a good few times before sleep finally claimed him.

Sam, on the other hand, still suffering from nightmares and a hell damaged soul, drifted off easily but slept, deeply disturbed by flashing images of fire and stomach turning laughter.

The tinkling sounds of cups and plates could be heard, even through the closed door, from the kitchen where Matt was making his breakfast in his pyjamas.

Dean and Sam hadn't roused from their slumbers yet, but as the clock hands flicked and juddered their way to 8:30, the oldest brother began to stretch and yawn in a way that made his t-shirt ride up to reveal toned expanses of muscle. The pyjamas that they'd been given to wear were slightly on the small side for Dean, and Sam had had to go out and buy a pair of much longer trousers, opting to go shirtless to save money.

The sun was weak in the sky, but growing stronger every second as it climbed higher and higher as time passed. Dean rolled onto his side and swung his legs out over the side, leaving them dangling for a few moments, before pushing up and to his feet where he swayed tiredly.

Looking across at his brother, Dean smiled at the peaceful expression that rested on his face, the older Winchester knew of his brother's nightmares - how could he not - but last night seemed at least a mild one, if he could look like that in the morning.

Dean wasn't sure what time Matt had arrived at his house the night before, as both Sam and Dean had gone to bed not too long after their encounter with the grumpy angel. He had come back slightly after that to tell them their bedding and clothing arrangements, but left again to see friends. They hadn't properly had time to discuss what was happening, changing universe didn't exactly leave you bright eyed and bushy-tailed, so they'd slept at the earliest possible time, knowing that they were going to need to face this world head-on. For that they were going to need their strength.

Padding across the room in bare feet, Dean used the cold of the wooden floor to jolt himself awake further as he walked to the curtains. It was still very early in the morning, but the sun had intensified to an almost blinding degree when Dean threw open the curtains and let the light stream in.

It was Sam's turn to groan and roll this time, trying to shy away from the sun that chased away the shadows surrounding him. Dean laughed softly and picked up a pillow from his vacated bed, which he then tossed at Sam's retreating form.

It bounced off of his head and landed with a bump on the floor.

"Rise and shine, Sammy!" He sang, forcing the Kansas twang more strongly into his voice which deepened the tone. It was a phrase that he'd used before and employed often when attempting to get Sam out of bed in the mornings on the road and watched with satisfaction as Sam peeked through his hair at Dean.

It was no use, Sam's head fell back on the pillow almost instantly and he kicked the covers a little more to make them agreeable. Dean stood with a raised eyebrow until Sam gave a little sigh of annoyance and pulled himself into a sitting position. He knew Dean would stare at him until he became uncomfortable and was forced to concede to Dean's will. It was a tactic that he had begun very early on in Sam's life.

"What's the time?" He asked groggily, allowing his voice to adjust to being used again after it's long hiatus.

The clock ticked next to his head but he didn't look at it, he simply waited for Dean to offer an explanation to the rude awakening.

"8:37," His brother smiled, moving to the door and opening it. He peered into the hallway and picked a door that looked most likely to lead to a bathroom.

Sam watched him leave and decided that now was the best time to get up and throw some clothes on - the only ones they had were the ones from yesterday - while Dean was out of the room. He picked at the items of clothing that lay abandoned on top of an oak dresser opposite the beds, and found his, moving Dean's into a neat, folded pile in the mean time.

It didn't take long for Sam to pull on the clothes, deciding that he really, really needed to get clean clothes out of the Impala. It wasn't a nice feeling, knowing that you were wearing the same underwear as the previous day.

Dean didn't bother knocking as he came back into the room and Sam was thankful for a second that he hadn't taken any longer getting changed but he folded his pyjama trousers and lay them on the pillow neatly.

"We need to get some things from Baby today," Dean stated, running his tongue over his teeth with an uncomfortable expression, "I need my toothbrush."

"Agreed." Sam muttered, choosing not to elaborate on what he would like to get. Dean would come to the same conclusion when he put on his clothes.

The giant man made his way out of the room to allow Dean some time to change and, running his hands through his long locks, he made his way to the kitchen, following the noise of a spoon clinking in a bowl.

When he got there, Sam found Matt sitting at the table in his kitchen, looking like he was contemplating the existence of his cereal. As if it was a surprise to him that it was actually there.

"Morning," Sam greeted him as he pulled out a chair to sit down with him. Matt jumped violently and looked up suddenly before smiling and rubbing his face with one hand.

"Sorry, not paying attention this morning. Was the room okay?" The blonde lifted a spoonful to his mouth.

"Yeah, it was fine. It was really decent of you to let us stay here, man," Sam admitted, trying to decide whether he wanted breakfast or not. Matt looked up at him and seemed to remember that Sam didn't know where anything was.

"If you want something to eat, the toaster is over there," He gestured with his spoon at a metal cuboid in the corner of one kitchen counter, "Bread is in the freezer - that's the bottom of that cupboard there - and cereal is in those Tupperware boxes, the bowls in the cupboard above,"

Sam followed his gesturing but shook his head when Matt turned to see what he wanted.

"I'm not hungry, thanks. Dean might be though, but we don't want to impose and cause you any more hassle than we already have,"

"Don't worry about it, it's gotten lonely in this town without any hu-" Matt shoved some cereal into his mouth to prevent himself from finishing the sentence. Sam gave him a strange look that the blonde pretended not to have seen.

"What are you two going to do today?" Matt changed the subject.

"Explore more of the town," Dean said, entering the room dressed in the same shirt as the day before as well. Sam glanced at him, he had wanted to do some research on the town before they saw much more of it. Get some lore on the history of the area.

"Cool, well this morning I'm meeting some friends, so you know, just do whatever. If you're out all day then I'll be home sometime this afternoon, probably about five, and I'll let you back in. Do you mind not coming here in the day? I mean, I can't really just give you a key, I've only just met you and you've stayed here one night," More gesturing with his spoon.

The boys nodded, accepting his explanation.

"Do you have wi-fi? Or know of anywhere that does?" Sam asked, he would have to do some research at some point, even if not just yet.

"I don't have wi-fi, but the Grill has some for free. You're welcome to use that,"

"Thanks!"

Soon after, Matt left and Dean sat for breakfast, groaning at the lack of ones with chocolate in.

* * *

The Salvatore Boarding House loomed up in front of Matt as he drove up the driveway for, what was probably, the hundredth time in the last three weeks. Elena was driving them all insane and causing Matt to have to spend uncomfortable amounts of hours plotting with his friends. He hated plotting!

In the window, and from the amount of cars, Matt could see that Caroline and Bonnie had arrived before him and were standing in the grand living room.

Parking the car, Matt stepped onto the tarmac and trod his way into the house, not bothering to knock when he got to the door. He had achieved the privilege of being able to walk straight inside when his best friend had begun to murder people - he would have preferred to have a sane Elena and still have to knock, but it hadn't worked out like that.

"Matt," Stefan greeted him when he came into view around the archway leading to the lounge. Caroline and Bonnie smiled at him, but their smiles were forced and slightly pained. The reaction was not about him, Matt knew that, but he wished that Elena could be back with emotions so that he wouldn't have to see that expression covering his friend's faces.

It wasn't only Elena that made Caroline and Bonnie react that way, of course, there was Silas too, but she was a factor that made everything so much worse. They all needed her at times like this.

"We all agree on the decision, of what we're going to do to Elena, right?" It was Stefan again that spoke, the two girls remained silent, watching for Matt's answer.

"If you're talking about what we said we were going to do, then yeah. I sort of agree. I disagree that it's an ethical thing to do to a friend, but yes, do it," Matt admitted defeat. he had been against what they were planning to do to, or should he say for, Elena.

"She's not our friend anymore, Matt. The Elena that we know is dead right now. We'll get her back, but not until we get rid of the bitch that inhabits her body," Caroline piped up, folding her arms across her denim jacket and shrugging.

Bonnie nodded alongside, shooting Matt a sympathetic look.

"You know what I think, Stefan. It's the only solution. If you can do it, Elena can." The witch spoke, addressing only Stefan.

"Where's Damon?" Matt asked, noticing the absence of the disruptive vampire for the first time. In fact, he hadn't seen him in a while...

"He's keeping an eye on those two Winchester's," Stefan offered as explanation and Matt sighed. Of course, they weren't just going to let him have two humans around without surveillance, after all, they could hurt him or something. Because everyone knew that humans were the 'real' threat in Mystic Falls.

"Fine." He let it go for now, "So does everyone know what they're doing about Elena?"

The other three in the room nodded in agreement.

"Right," Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Let's go catch us a vampire."


	10. The Resident Psychopath

Later that afternoon, Dean and Sam found themselves wandering around the streets of Mystic Falls trying to find the bridge that would lead them to 'Baby'. The sun, as it had been that morning, was beating against the ground in angry tidal waves and the boys were tempted to remove their t-shirts, but decided against it for nothing but human decency.

Dean maintained the notion that the residents probably wouldn't mind, but Sam remained adamant that they weren't on holiday, therefore there was no reason to go without a shirt.

It wasn't until well into the afternoon, that Sam and Dean finally found the old bridge that they'd been looking for. It was located much further out of town than they remembered and if you weren't a local that knew the access roads, there wasn't much of a hope of finding the turning as it wasn't sign posted.

The walk, however, to the place that they had left the Impala, was shorter than they remembered. Probably because it was more familiar territory, but either way, the boys were grateful to see some semblance of their old life, their old Universe!

Upon seeing her, Dean swiftly went up to his car and knelt down beside the bonnet, stroking the chassis with love.

"I'm sorry we left you! Are you okay?" He spoke tenderly and checked her all over for dents in the framework or scratches in her glossy black exterior. Thankfully, she was blemish free; there was still the problem of the engine refusing to start, however.

Dean pulled open the bonnet and peered inside while Sam went to the boot and retrieved items that they'd need.

All of their clothing was still stuffed inside the duffel bags in the trunk of the car and Sam took them out with ease and lay them at his feet, digging back into the trunk for some weapons. It never hurt to be cautious.

Once a gun was tucked into the back of his jeans, Sam took the tool box from the car boot and handed it to Dean. The older man was buried in the bonnet, searching for his 'Baby's' ailment. It didn't take him long and he was soon pulling out different tools to fix her, ignoring his brother all the while.

Sam lifted up the duffel bags again and slung them across his back as he waited for Dean.

"What did you get those out for?" Dean asked, pointing at the bags with his spanner, "I'm driving us into town!" He dove beneath the hood again.

The thought hadn't even occurred to Sam, even as he'd watched Dean fix the car, that they'd be driving. Now that he did think about it, it seemed obvious and he felt rather silly for standing there with the bags.

"Ahha!" Dean shouted a few minutes later at no one in particular. Sam had sat down in the passenger side of the car, throwing the duffels in the back, and was pulling his gun apart absentmindedly.

The car shook as Dean climbed in too and turned the keys in the ignition. Baby rumbled herself to a steady growl and Dean grinned, stroking the dash board.

"We're off then?" Sam asked, sliding the metal of the gun back together with a click and putting it back under the waistband of his trousers.

"Yep!" Dean put the car in gear and began to drive off and over the bridge, enjoying the journey much more now that they were in their own car, rather than having to walk.

* * *

Parking the car outside of Matt's house, Dean and Sam decided to walk around the neighbouring streets. It was good to know every inch of the foreign world that they found themselves in, you never knew when you were going to have to run for your life. If that happened, you'd need to know the best place to run to.

The streets were mostly empty, everyone was either at work or school, and those that weren't, were smart enough to stay inside and avoid the torturously hot weather. The brothers ventured slowly, all but forgetting their current predicament in the ordinary action of merely taking a walk. It was so human, so simple, that the two felt wistful. They weren't focusing on anything at the moment, no case, no murder, just exploring yet another new town. They felt peaceful.

Dean was the first to break the silence that had fallen over them when he spotted something just a little further down the road that they were walking along. A girl stood, the breeze playing with her hair, with her head in her hands in front of a plot of land that should have held a house.

As they got nearer, the Winchesters saw that it wasn't earth in the plot, but ash and rubble; whatever house had been there, had clearly burnt down.

The brother's approached the weeping girl, preparing to speak to her, when she lifted her head. The pink streak in her brunette hair was pushed behind her ear as she ran a hand through the curled mess, and she looked up at Dean and Sam, fresh tears continuing to carve paths on her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Sam said worriedly, stepping closer to put an arm around her shoulder, or some sign of reassurance.

"No," She sniffled, leaning in when Sam placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened? Is this your house?" Dean asked, thinking now that they shouldn't have been so quick to forget all their worries.

"Yes, it was my home. A few-" The girl hiccupped "A few days ago, it caught alight, my brother was inside."

"I'm sorry," Dean sighed. The girl broke away from Sam and faced Dean with a small smile.

"Thank you. I'm Elena, by the way,"

Sam let curiosity get the better of himself and couldn't refrain from asking:  
"How did the fire start?"

Elena glanced at him, her eyes spiking in pain, "I'd rather not talk about it,"

"Sorry about him, he's not very sensitive," Dean shot Sam a look, "I'm Dean and this is Sam,"

"Brothers, right?" Elena sniffed again and lifted a hand for Dean to shake "I'm really hungry,"

"Yeah, we're brothers" Sam smiled.

It took Sam a moment to realise why this girl was so familiar to him, hadn't he seen her yesterday, at the Grill? She must have gotten the pink streak put in that morning because it hadn't been there the night before.

"Weren't you at the Grill yesterday?" He voiced the question.

"Yeah!" Dean agreed, finally remembering, "Matt's ex!"

Sam sighed at his brother's complete lack of tact. He had described her as the 'stalker ex' when they'd seen her in the Grill and was now referring to her as something similar in person after they'd seen her crying.

"Matt? That reminds me, I haven't seen Matt since I got back from my little road trip. I'll go visit him later!"

"But-" Dean began.

"Actually, I think I'll visit all of my friends later, I bet they missed me." All the signs of tears and misery were gone from Elena's eyes and instead, there was an emotionless glint. It was a scary glint.

Using one long, tanned arm, she reached out and hooked a hand around Dean's neck. It was a quick movement that neither of the boys could have ever imagined having time to counteract.

Before they could blink, Dean was bent double, the girl's teeth at his throat.

"I'm so hungry. I think I'll have lunch first," Elena grinned and brought her teeth crashing down and through Dean's flesh. He screamed and writhed but his brute strength was nothing against hers.

Completely unprepared, Sam tried to pull Elena from his brother but she threw him off as if he were paper. Dean was getting paler and paler as his blood seemed to flow from him, his arms sagging loosely by his side.

"Let go of him Elena." Stefan called sweetly. Elena let the body fall and Sam scrambled over to him.

Dean was still alive, but barely breathing, he would survive.

Elena wiped her mouth and turned to face Stefan. How dare he interrupt her meal?

"What do you want, Stefan? Didn't I make it clear enough, what I would do if you didn't leave me in peace?" She was careful not to get too close to the other vampire, choosing instead to be a few feet away, just in case he'd decided to get evil with the vervain. From this distance she'd have time to make her exit.

"You made it clear. Definitely." Stefan didn't elaborate and it was beginning to annoy Elena.

Every time he came to reason with her or to discuss something, he would never explain what he wanted, all he'd do was stand there and leave her to become frustrated. It was infuriating.

Elena didn't have time to fume long, however, because as she began her next sentence, the words were forced from her mouth as a gasp when something came speeding through the air and broke both of her legs.

"That worked better than I'd though!" Caroline enthused, getting to her feet from her previous position resembling an ice hockey player. Elena lay on the ground hissing.

"That won't keep me down for long!" She growled threateningly, but as she did so, Bonnie walked out from behind Stefan. She was chanting.

Elena screamed in agony, bindings beginning to worm their way up her arms and legs, burning her skin as they went.

Sam looked on in silence, he had only one weapon, but he wasn't sure how well it would work on any of the people before him. Dean lay unconscious on the ground beside him, unaware of anything that was happening.

"I'm sorry, Elena." Stefan knelt next to her tightly bound body and lifted her easily from the floor, "Caroline, can you..." He gestured towards Dean and Sam.

Sam scrambled up and pulled the gun from his trousers, standing with his feet locked firmly on the gound, completely steady.

"Hey, stay calm," Caroline chided, staring into Sam's eyes, "Put the gun down," Sam let the gun fall to the floor with a clatter. He couldn't look away from Caroline's eyes.

"Forget what you saw here. You spent the day at Matt's house with your brother, playing on the computer and watching television. Oh, and I'm really sorry about this,"

With a dull thud, Sam's vision went black.


	11. The Memories

Matt pulled the house keys from his pocket nervously. It hadn't taken long for news of what had happened that day to reach Matt's ears. Bonnie had found him to let him know about Elena and the causalities that had occurred during their attack.

Of course, Sam and Dean wouldn't remember a thing, and both had cover stories for Dean's injury. But Matt couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty. These people had come into town perfectly innocent to the idea of some supernaturals walking the earth with them, but here they were, confronted with horrors on their second day!

It took him a few times, but the blonde eventually stopped his hands shaking enough to put the key in the lock and turn it. The door swung open.

The kitchen was empty, but as Matt stepped through into the lounge, he saw Sam and Dean talking animatedly on the sofa.

"-like I woke up from a dream and I was just here!" Dean was explaining, waving his arms to demonstrate the point. Matt could see bandages covering his neck where Elena had sunk her teeth into the flesh, it forced back memories of the time that he'd allowed his friend to do that to him.

Matt shuddered.

"Hey, man," Sam said, looking up from where he'd been studying Dean as he spoke with a puzzled expression.

Matt smiled in response, but it was slightly forced. They were human, that was what made Matt feel sorry for dragging them into this world. He couldn't apologise enough; at the same time he couldn't apologise at all. Not without arousing suspicion.

"What have you guys been up to all day?" He made himself ask.

"We've been here all day, just hanging around." Came Dean's immediate response, but the minute he said it, he frowned.

"No, we haven't!" Sam chipped in, looking at his brother with a similar expression. He had wanted to answer the same thing as Dean had, but when the older man had said it, it just hadn't sounded right. "We left with you this morning!"

Matt's eyes widened, he didn't know which story to agree with. Which one was the compelled story?

"Oh yeah!" Dean cried, his eyebrows furrowing closer together. Both men were sitting on the largest sofa but sideways so that they could see Matt standing in the door frame. "But we've been here most of the day,"

"I notice you went to get your car," Matt supplied, hoping to return the conversation to something resembling normality before their confusion made him feel any more guilty.

"No, we left the Impala by that bridge that leads out of town. We really ought to go back for her, Dean." The tall man shifted his legs so that they were curled underneath him in a way that shouldn't be possible for limbs of that proportion.

Matt glanced at the duffel bags at their feet and thought back to the black Chevvy parked across the road from his driveway. Okay, so Caroline had removed all of that day from their memories?

It was then that Dean noticed the bags at their feet.

"How did they... Did Zoe get them for us?" Sam looked at where Dean pointed.

"I don't remember seeing her, and we've been in this room all day! How did we not notice?" Sam glanced around as if this 'Zoe' person would be hiding in a corner. The boy's expressions were falling further and further as they tried to figure out why their day was looking like a double sided jigsaw puzzle in their minds.

"Oh well," Dean rubbed his tired face with one hand, wincing as his arm brushed the bandaged area of his neck. "Is there a bar around here? I need a drink."

"Yeah, the Grill has a bar," Matt answered, surprised that Dean hadn't remembered since he'd only been there the previous day.

Sam looked utterly confused and punched his brother lightly on the shoulder to get his attention as Dean got to his feet.

"Where's that?" Dean asked, turning his head to one side and watching Matt intently waiting for a reply.

Matt was getting confused. How much of Dean's memory had really been removed? All of the time he'd been in Mystic Falls? But how then did he remember Matt and Matt's home?

"We were there yesterday, Dean!" Sam answered when Matt stayed silent. Dean gave his brother an incredulous look.

"No we weren't! I haven't been to a bar yet! Not that 'The Grill' sounds like my kind of bar, but oh well!"

"It's just down the road. Take a right, then a left, then two more rights and you're there." Matt needed to go to bed, he was fed up of the supernatural. Right now, what he wanted was Elena, Caroline and Bonnie back from before Stefan and Damon came into their lives. Though he didn't want to be Elena's boyfriend again, he was slightly on his way to losing his heart to Rebekah, not that he'd admit it to anyone.

"Cheers," The Winchester's voice broke into Matt's thoughts about the old days, "You coming, Sammy?"

The younger Winchester shook his head, the frown still plastered on his face.

"I think I'm going to call Zoe." He stood and with a smile at the other two in the room, left to go to Matt's spare room.

"We don't need her, but if you must," Dean called after him, then raised an eyebrow at Matt who shook his head as well. Shrugging, Dean walked past him and left the house.

Matt sighed, he was getting a headache, it was bed for him.

* * *

Dean walked slowly in the directions that Matt had given him. He let his thought wander back to the past couple of days. Not much had happened.

They had arrived the previous morning, wandered the streets a little bit, then gone to Matt's house. They had then spent all of today at Matt's house doing... what had they been doing? Obviously Dean had hurt himself... but how had he done it? The answers to all the questions were on the tip of his tongue, but when Dean tried to force them through his lips, they scuttled to the farthest part of his brain as possible.

The sight of the Grill was like a bell going off in Dean's mind, but he couldn't figure out why, he'd never seen it before.

The inside of the Grill was decorated nicely and it took a matter of seconds for Dean to locate the bar and he made his way towards it, pushing past everyone.

There were a few people at the bar but Dean ignored them all and just sat in the nearest seat to him; it was next to a dark haired man in a leather jacket.

"Bourbon." He requested when he caught the bartenders eye.

* * *

Damon growled. Someone was in Alaric's seat! He barely moved anything but his head and bared fangs menacingly at the man sitting next to him.

Dean didn't notice the movement to his right and accepted his drink gratefully, taking a small sip. The cool liquid slid down his throat and he couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since Sammy and he had gone for a drink, they spent too much time in the Bunker rather than bar hopping. Not that that was particularly a problem, Dean loved having a proper home.

"That seats taken," Came a gruff voice from the leather jacketed man to Dean's right.

"I'll move when they get back," Dean answered dismissively, not bothering to face the man.

Damon's eyes narrowed as he glared at imposter in his friend's seat, how dare he? He had the nerve not to even notice Damon's threats!

A smirk crossed Damon's features, however, as a pungent smell wafted beneath his nostrils. Blood. So this must be Elena's victim. The one that he'd been supposed to keep an eye on. Oops. He gave a derisive little snort.

"Remind me to thank Elena later." He swallowed a mouthful of drink.

"What?-" Dean began to say but he was interrupted as he noticed Bonnie enter the Grill.

Rage filled Dean as he saw the girl, there was something niggling in the back of his mind. She knew something, or she was something. He just knew it! But how did he know?

Now wasn't the time for Dean to try and figure that out. The point was, he knew, and she might hurt someone. It was time for a confrontation.

"Bonnie!" He called as he swiftly made his way over to her. Her eyes flickered to his neck and she grimaced.

"Hey Dean! What happened to your neck?" It was a test, Dean knew it, but he didn't know what the wrong answer would be.

"I fell over at Matt's and caught it on the table." The answer was automatic, but the memory of the event seemed to form in his mind only after he'd spoken the words.

"Is it done?" Damon had come up at Dean's shoulder and was addressing Bonnie with a mysterious air.

Bonnie nodded in response but she remained looking at Dean so it was hard to tell whose statement or question she was offering an answer to.

"There's something going on here, what are you?" Dean growled at her, causing her eyes to go wide.

"Excuse me?" Bonnie's eyes had gone wide and Damon had moved even closer to Dean, practically looking over Dean's shoulder in a threatening manner. The Winchester wasn't afraid.

"No matter what you are, I've dealt with your kind before! I've dealt with everything," Dean took a risk and grabbed her strongly by the upper arm, careful to make sure that to passersby it wouldn't look like anything more than a casual touch. "Tell me what you are!"

Damon made a move to pull Dean off of her, but Bonnie sent him a glance over Dean's shoulder and he moved back.

"Why don't we take this outside?" Damon suggested, ushering the two outside despite Dean trying to protest.

* * *

"Zoe!" Sam tried calling to her, but nothing happened.

He was sat in the bedroom that he shared with Dean, his long legs outstretched, trying to think of a way to call the angel. He really didn't want to have to pray, though it seemed like the only option.

"Zoe, something seems to be going on, and Dean's mind and mine are seeming to be not up to standard. We need you,"

"That's just what a girl wants to hear," A flutter of wings came from the corner and when Sam looked up, Zoe was standing there, arms folded and leaning against the wall with a smirk.

She had changed her outfit since the first time they'd met and now she wore skinny red jeans and a black silk shirt covered in frills. Last time she'd had bare feet but now she had black stilettos with a bow on the toe. Her long blonde hair fell in loose waves down her back and an eyebrow had crept up her forehead as she looked at Sam.

"So what's up Winchester?" She seemed to have changed her attitude since they'd last spoken but, despite being slightly more friendly, the cold edge was still etched into her tone.

"Well, as I said, I keep remembering things in strange orders and today doesn't seem to make any sense!" Sam stood from the bed, feeling more powerful because he was so much taller than the angel. Of course, he knew he was kidding himself, if she wanted to kill him, she could probably do it in less time than it would take him to run to the door.

"Do you mind?" Zoe had walked closer and was gesturing to his face with two fingers outstretched and as much as Sam didn't want her to go into his mind, he knew it was the best option.

"Sure," He said reluctantly and bent down slightly to she could place her fingers to his temple. Even in heels she was barely taller than 5"3.

Sam felt a sharp pain as Zoe entered his mind and moved her way through the memories till she found what she was looking for. It was over within 40 seconds, but to Sam it felt like a lifetime, the sequence of time always got a little bit scrambled when people waded through your thoughts. Sam knew from previous experience: when Cas had pulled the wall - to keep out hell - in his mind down.

Zoe removed her fingers from his head and shook herself, causing the ruffles on her tailored shirt to jostle.

"You've been compelled." She said matter-of-factly.

"What? What is that? Can I remember things because of my experience with the supernatural and stuff?" Sam asked in a hurry. What the hell was 'compelled' anyway?

"Of course, being Winchesters, you'd want to put it down to a 'superior mindset' wouldn't you? But no. Compulsion is a mind control, influence, thing. Luckily for you two, it's the universe jump that allows you to notice something is odd, it played with your minds because technically you travelled through time and space to get here in a matter of seconds.

"If this was your own Universe you would be as vulnerable as everyone else. Since you switched, your mind is trying to correct the mess that the time vortex did to it - similar to your adverse reaction to Angels 'zapping' you places - so whilst it's working overtime, it's trying to mend the damage that this mind control is placing in your head. Hence your ability to remember in snippets and have the feeling that something's not quite right. It's pure luck, Winchester."

"But what about Dean? He seems to be losing so much more of his memory!" Sam asked, clearly confused.

"Dean... Well, he got hurt, didn't he? The bitch bit him. And by doing so, she's confused his primitive brain. It doesn't know whether to focus on repairing his mind or the wound. All his brain activity has been rerouted from his head to his neck and into the white blood cells for the healing process because he has to remake a hell of a lot of red blood cells to replace what was taken.

"Whilst that's happening, he's been told to forget. And that order has been taken, he's forgetting at a rapid rate. He doesn't understand what he's saying and he feels the emotions that he felt at the moment he can last remember. Soon enough he's going to forget me, forget that he's jumped Universes. And be prepared, because he's going to forget that Cas' out of Purgatory.

"We have to find him, now. I can reverse the effects. Where is he?"

Zoe's eyes went wide, the green lightening to clear white and her breathing became heavy. It was only for a matter of seconds but when her eyes returned to normal, it was clear that she was exhausted.

"Dean's in danger."


	12. The Confrontation

**Hello! Thank you again to all of you that Favourited and Followed! It's always lovely to know that the work is appreciated! Also, sorry about the time gap between chapters, it's difficult to find time to just sit and write. Please, please review and let me know what you think of the story and characters, it's really helpful. Thanks! **

The cool breeze was comforting when Dean stepped outside of the Grill. It was a gentle puff of air against the bandages that surrounded a wound that he could no longer feel in the sudden blinding rage that took over him on sight of Bonnie.

There was something off about her, like he had seen her somewhere, doing something, but he couldn't remember. He had suspected her of being a supernatural being, of course, but normally he would never go after someone without proof or without Sam, but something in his gut was screaming at him to find out more. To kill her.

Then there was Damon, the man at the bar with bright white teeth that also seemed to have an involvement in Bonnie's twisted stories. 'Is it done?' what had that meant? Was what done? Murder? Dean didn't know.

Bonnie had exited the Grill first, followed by Dean, who was being closely watched by Damon as the man sauntered along behind flashing absent grins at Grill patrons.

Dean knew that what he was doing was reckless, and that he was injured - not that he was 100 per cent sure how that happened - but this felt right. He felt like he was being proactive in the fight against evil.

The street was quiet and the light had faded to almost complete inky black, only the street lamps lit up the pavement in orangey glow.

"What were you saying?" Damon had moved closer behind Dean, leaning towards the bandage, his eyes turning a slight shade of red. It must have been a reaction to the harsh light of the Grill, there was no monster, other than some high level demons that had red eyes.

Dean walked forwards and out of Damon's reach to stand in front of Bonnie.

"Call off the dog, Bonnie." He flashed her a small smirk, "I just want to talk,"

A sudden gust of wind caught the back of Dean's shirt, making it flutter slightly, and Bonnie glanced over Dean's shoulder with narrowed eyes. There was a small grunt of pain and Dean quickly spun around to see what was happening, but by the time he looked, Damon was straightened up and glaring at Bonnie.

"He doesn't get hurt, Damon." The mocha skinned girl said, eyes still squinting at the man in the leather jacket. Damon growled back, obviously a little put out.

Turning back to Bonnie, Dean took another large step towards her so that he was looming above her in a menacing way.

"What are you?"

Bonnie swallowed. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Caroline was supposed to have helped them forget, why could Dean remember?

She could feel the magic building in her blood. It had been a mistake hurting Damon when he had made to attack Dean. Well, it hadn't been a mistake to save an innocent life from Damon, but it was a mistake to use controlled magic.

Expression was powerful and it threatened, by the tingling in her fingertips, to burst out all at once to counteract the danger that it seemed to think she was in. It was obvious that Damon could sense it, at least in some small way, because he suddenly looked up as she felt a small pulse of energy leave her body.

Of course, how could Dean know what she was unless he had met others like her? Others like Elena and Damon? Was he a hunter? They didn't usually go after witches though, did they? None that Bonnie had met, anyway.

"I'm not anything, just a person. What else could I be?" Bonnie tried her hardest not to choke on the Latin that attempted to force its way through her larynx. She had no control over the magic anymore and it had begun to physically pain her to hold it back.

"You're a witch." Dean pulled himself up to full height and stared down at her, not paying attention to Damon standing a few metres behind.

Bonnie gasped. He knew.

Before either of the confrontational pair could react, Damon had gripped Dean's arms and twisted them behind his back, breaking them both with little to no effort.

The pavement burst into grey swirls of cloud in front of Dean's eyes that swam and danced in bright mists, and he yelled out in a guttural scream, falling to the ground in agony. The burning sensation that chased its way outwards from his elbow intensified as his knees hit the ground and his arms jolted.

This was pain in its most minor form, Dean thought. He'd been through and survived so much worse, a few broken limbs were nothing to cry about. This was child's play.

In a last ditch attempt to free himself from where he was pinned to the ground by Damon, he lashed backwards with one leg, aiming a stinging kick to Damon's knee cap. It successfully caught the man off guard and he let go of Dean after there was the sound of cracking from inside the leg.

The ground tilted dangerously under Damon as he pitched to the pavement, unable to support himself on one of his legs for a few moments. He rolled with the tumble and sat down for mere seconds to allow his bones to reset, then shot to his feet like a bullet.

Dean was still lying on the tarmac, unable to gain footing because he had no arms able to lever him to his feet.

Damon was about to go back over to him, to possible break his legs as well if he refused to answer any of the questions that Damon planned to pose, but something stopped him. That something was a word. Just one single word in a language that Damon barely understood.

This word was common though. Everyone knew the Latin word for 'Burn'.

In the few seconds that followed, all anyone in the immediate vicinity would describe it as, would be excruciating. Blind, hot power leaked from a girl lying twitching on the pavement. It rolled from her body in waves of pure magic.

The power paralysed both Dean and Damon as it filtered through their bodies and set off all nerve endings with the feeling of fire mixed with white hot ice. It moved like electricity, sparks leaping from the ground and clogging up the air around them with the sharp metallic tang of lightening.

Dean was in agony. Not only were his arms broken but every fibre of his being was alight with invisible flame, the mist pouring into his mouth when he tried to gasp a breathe and setting fire to his lungs and vocal chords. He couldn't speak. He couldn't scream. He could only lie there, eyes wide and reminisce about the similar pain to that which he felt in Crowley's kingdom.

Meanwhile, in Matt's house, Sam stared wide eyed at Zoe, reeling from her sudden exclamation of imminent danger directed at his brother.

"What do you mean Dean's in danger?" He cried, moving into her personal space in his panic.

"I don't know, I just know that he is." It didn't explain anything, and as Zoe regained her breath, she gently extended her wings just an inch. They were as beautiful as before, but Sam didn't have the brain capacity to focus on them at the present moment.

"Well, zap us there then!" The tall man gestured wildly with two fingers outstretched in the direction of his forehead. Zoe sighed slowly and shook her head, she seemed agitated.

"I can't, Sam."

"What do you mean, you can't? You're an angel, aren't you?" It was an outrage, Sam needed to reach his brother, but Zoe was refusing to take him.

"I am," She fluttered the wings gently to emphasise the point, but her face was grave, "But I can't. The angel mojo isn't as strong here. It's not possible for me to get a link that'll carry two beings. I can't get to you at all if I'm not near you. I can only lock onto Dean because he's got a strong bond with Castiel, having Cas pull him out of hell and all that,"

Sam threw his hands up in frustration, "But he saved me too! Why isn't there a strong signal to me?"

"Because he saved your body, there was no link to your soul because he didn't rescue it." Zoe was in deep thought and only spared Sam that smallest of withering looks. "Where was he going?"

"The Grill."

"Take the Impala, go there. I will go to Dean immediately and meet you there." The inky blackness spreading outwards from her shoulders intensified but she left words behind in the flutter of wings. The words echoed around the room.

"Hurry, Sam."

By the time Zoe arrived at the entrance to the grill, the white mist had ebbed away and Damon had escorted Bonnie to safety since he recovered quickly from the magics. He had come back for Dean, but upon seeing Zoe kneeling beside him, kept to the shadows, assuming that she couldn't see him. Of course, being an angel, she knew he was there, but refused to acknowledge him in her inspection of Dean's wounds.

The arms would be a quick fix, not that she could do anything to those while Damon was there, but what worried the angel was how clueless she was to the rest of his injuries. Dean's heart beat was weak, and his breathing much too shallow, he needed a hospital.

Sam put his foot down in the Impala and hurried in the direction of the Grill, ignoring the stop sign that was on the road a few streets down from the establishment. Not knowing anything about the nature of Dean's injuries, Sam's mind assumed the worst, a thought trail that he forced himself to ignore.

Only pulling up to the sidewalk, did Sam really allow himself to panic. Zoe knelt beside Dean, her hands on his forehead, trying to ease the pain.

Sam threw himself from the car after he had stopped the engine and rushed to their sides.

"Help me get him into the car," Zoe said in a neutral voice.

"Can't you just zap him?"

"No. It would kill him,"

Instead of arguing further, Sam obliged and began to move Dean's arms. "Not those! They're broken in three places,"

Instead of his arms, Sam slid his large hands beneath Dean's shoulder blades and lifted. He saw Zoe doing the same at Dean's feet. Together they heaved the man into the back seat of the car and Zoe climbed in after him, leaving Sam to drive.

"Can you fix him?" Sam asked, shuffling into the driver's seat and starting the engine.

"I can heal his broken bones. The rest... is like nothing I've ever seen before. Judging by the effect it has had on his nervous system, by all rights he should be on fire."

Sam was silent for a few minutes as he took in what that meant, and as Zoe healed the broken bones.

"Sam! Step on it! He needs a hospital!" Zoe's irritated voice sounded from the back of the car and Sam pressed his foot to the gas pedal.

Luckily, unlike so many other places, it seemed, in Mystic Falls, the hospital was clearly signposted and the drive was under 15 minutes. Dean barely moved, except to twitch involuntarily as the effect of whatever it had been that injured him, still hit nerve endings.

Zoe and Sam rushed Dean into the hospital where it was declared an emergency and they were rushed to an intensive care unit. Sam sat beside him when they finally allowed visitors, and Zoe, ignoring the 'no one but family' rule, materialised inside the room once the nurse had gone.

"He'll be fine, Sam." She said soothingly. Sam didn't look up.

"Why do you even care?" He asked, a small amount of bitterness leaking into his tone. Zoe had helped save Dean, but why did she care, she had proclaimed that she really didn't give a crap, last time they'd met.

Zoe sighed and dropped into the empty seat on the other side of Dean's bed. Dean was linked up to at least six tubes, it was a little unnerving to see.

"I don't want to care. Somewhere deep down, I still hate you both so much, but this bond with Castiel... He's projecting thoughts of the friendship and family that he feels towards the two of you. Some of the memories he's made me think are quite sweet. I am tolerant because of Cas. Be grateful. You lot might not actually be that bad,"

"Oh," Was Sam's response and he turned his head, with no other comment, to stare dazedly at the bleeping monitor that was the only assurance that Dean was still alive.


End file.
